A Strange Kind Of Friendship
by alindy
Summary: Rory finds River working under the console and a sort-of, kind-of, somewhat friendship comes out of it...franky, he didn't even know what it was...:.. another fic for jtrem's birthday  :


**I love the idea of friendship between River and Rory and of course ended up working on this for jtrem's birthday...happy birthday (:**

**Enjoy!**

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><p>"River?"<p>

"Yes sweetie?" she replied while futzing with the wires underneath the console of the TARDIS. Rory walked over and sat down in front of her, futzing with his hands slightly.

"Is there something I can help you with?" she queried as she set down the wrench she had been using earlier and put her full attention onto the fidgeting boy in front of her.

"Why'd you look so sad earlier when you saw the Doctor?" Rory asked as he looked down at the ground nervously.

"That wasn't what you were going to ask," River replied evenly as she picked up the wrench again and tweaked underneath the console.

"It wasn't, but it is a very good question. I've rarely seen a human who wasn't excited about seeing the Doctor."

"How do you even know I'm human?" she smiled cheekily.

"Are you?" Rory exclaimed, eyes wide and mouth open in a round o.

"Spoilers," she whispered in response.

Rory moved over and laid down besides her, looking underneath the console so he could see what she was doing. He slid underneath and looked up to see a jumble of wires and other mechanical things that made him glad that he was a nurse.

"So…what are you doing under here?"

"You know how the doctor likes to land: bumpily and roughly. Actually, I don't know if he likes to or not, I think he's just not capable of landing properly," she smiled to herself as she hooked two wires together. "Last time, when he picked me up yesterday, actually, he jostled some of the wires and now he made it so whenever we land we'll land a good two years away from where we want to."

"How'd you learn so much about the TARDIS?" Rory questioned, holding down a wire for River as she motioned for him to.

"You know I shouldn't tell," she chastised and shook her head slightly.

"Is there ever a day when I know?" Rory questioned.

"Know what?" River mumbled as she pushed her lips together in concentration.

"About you! I feel like I should trust you, but how can I even know?"

"That's why it's fun, isn't it?" she said as she smirked slightly. "Doing something possibly dangerous, don't you just love the thrill?"

"Not an exceptional amount," Rory muttered to himself.

"Than you're definitely in the wrong place," she scoffed.

"Trust me, I've noticed," he rolled his eyes.

"You really love her, don't you?" she spoke, giving him her full attention.

"I don't want anyone else, but I guess you understand that," he responded clearly.

"Understand?" she asked even though her tone of voice clearly showed she knew exactly what he was trying to say.

"With the Doctor, you'd do anything, wouldn't you?" he asked, but in a way that almost sounded exactly like a statement and not like a question at all.

"My relationship with the Doctor is…complicated," River explained, turning back so she was facing the bottom of the console again.

"Do you mean because of the fact that you're traveling in opposite-"

"Here's the thing," River cut in, moving to her side to look at him again, "imagine the situation the Doctor and I are in and doing it with Amy. Having her know all about you when you met, and by the time your relationship is over, you being quite a bit older than when it started, she can't even tell you your name. It would kill you, wouldn't it? I love meeting the Doctor, don't think I would _ever_ change the moments I've gotten with him, but I know for every first the Doctor has, it's a last for me, and lately there has been an abundance of firsts with the Doctor and me. Our lives together are a scrapbook that was ripped apart and pasted back together in a strange fashion."

"What was it like at the beginning?" Rory voiced quietly after a few moments of thinking and silence.

River laughed slightly and set down the wrench again. "Why can't you be like the others? You should be asking about your future and not my past."

"The others?"

"The other companions. There's a subject I can talk freely about, though I'm not sure the Doctor would want me to, like that's going to stop me; it only makes me want to do it all the more," she smiled.

"You are an interesting woman River Song…" Rory trailed off with a shake of his head. "How do you even know so much about all those companions?"

"Ah, under the right conditions, darling, you can get the Doctor to tell you almost anything. He and I were once stuck on a planet that had both lava _and_ ice covering the surface of it, for _three_ months," she smiled as she looked to be in her own world. "The Doctor becomes incredibly restless when he has nothing to do but try to fix the TARDIS, I had to find other ways of entertaining him," she smiled cheekily.

"Wait though, he said he was, what, 1,000 or so years old when we saw him before he died? Even with three months of time together he couldn't have shared 1,000 years of history with you, right?" Rory pointed out.

"Oh, it wasn't just those three months. There are plenty of other stories involving me and the Doctor being stranded someplace. Not only that, but I used to cook dinners and, since I told him that if I had to cook the bloody things then he had to entertain me, he didn't really have any other options," River responded.

"I can't really imagine you cooking dinner…" Rory rambled, hoping it wouldn't offend her.

"The first time he suggested I do it I slapped him. Really, just because _I'm _the woman _I_ have to cook dinner? Then I realized the man can't cook to save his life," River informed him with glistening eyes as Rory laughed. "You'd think over all of this time he'd learn to cook _something_ for himself, but he just can't. It must be why he's so skinny in all of his regenerations."

"You've seen them all?"

"The regenerations or the companions?"

"Regenerations," Rory supplied.

"Not in person, I do know what they look like, but I've only seen a few up close. Most of my traveling is done with 11. He tells me about them sometimes, how he can feel all of them inside of him. He talks about how he didn't like being some of them sometimes, like 9, well, until he met Rose that was…" River trailed off.

"I think I've heard her mentioned before. Who's Rose exactly?"

"The only companion who got a Doctor," River smiled sadly and hoped there wasn't any anger in her voice.

She did sometimes wish she could live with a Doctor who would age with her or even just get more time with the Doctor that remembered her, but she knew that wasn't how it was meant to work for them. She would always be going in the opposite direction of him, and there was no use for her to waste time with useless daydreams and wishful thinking.

"What do you mean- that-" Rory began; the most curious he had spoken the entire conversation.

"Aha! Got it!" River exclaimed happily, sliding out from underneath the console smoothly.

"Wait, River! Ow!" Rory belted after her, slightly slowed down from bumping his head on the console.

River turned around and looked at him with a playful expression on her face.

"Rory, Rose is a story for another time. As my witch of a mother used to say, 'end when you're highest'. I have to save _something_ for another time," River grinned childishly while walking backwards away from him.

"I'm holding you to that!" Rory answered, crossing his arms and leaning back on the console before slipping slightly and having to grab quickly onto a rail so that he didn't fall.

"Looking forward to it," she chuckled and disappeared down a corridor.

Rory looked at River Song's retreating form and shook his head slightly as he thought about their friendship. He wasn't quite sure it could even be considered that: friendship. She was something akin to an enigma: difficult to figure out and mysterious. She intrigued him and he hoped there'd be a day when he knew, well, at least _something_ more about her. Rory knew if there was one, it wasn't coming soon.

He didn't plan on holding his breath.


End file.
